Crown Town, as the hub for The Gift's supplies, population, and various activities, changes every day and is already vastly different from the last time I left.
The most obvious difference is the gradual formation of the "outer city."
The name "Crown Town" in the Common Tongue of Westeros actually means only "Crown," originally referring solely to the tower where Queen Alysanne Targaryen stayed when she visited The Gift, and by extension, the small village it was located in. As for the "Town" part added at the end, it was purely imagined by people who knew it was a place name and thought it should sound complete.
The first wall encircles the site of the original small village by the lake, forming a castle-like structure that protects the most core buildings: the internal supply and weapons warehouse, stables, soldier and staff dormitories, and the multi-purpose hall. The rule that "only internal personnel" are allowed entry will never change. But as the resettlement plan continues to deepen and the number of people gathering and staying in Crown Town keeps growing, the open space outside the castle walls quickly became crowded and chaotic, greatly increasing the difficulty of management.
At this point, it was time to launch Aegor's second step in constructing his base camp. He would use the castle built on the site of the original Crown Town as the core and begin expanding this stronghold, turning the castle into a town and making the name Crown Town, and even Crown City, live up to its meaning.
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After careful planning, the expansion work began. The large army that had previously built roads reassembled, clearing away all the temporary tents and earthen shelters that had sprawled around the city walls like a chaotic slum, and began building rows of neat, uniform bungalows constructed from materials such as earth, wood, and stone.
These houses would be the residences for the first batch of "Crown City Citizens."
There are two ways to acquire this status: either work diligently for several years, save up a large sum of money, and buy a house to obtain citizenship; or participate in important actions commanded and planned by Aegor, make significant contributions, and earn merit to acquire residential rights ranging from several years to permanent. By paying a symbolic low rent, one can continue living in the assigned house until the term expires or they voluntarily move out.
The first batch of new residents has been confirmed. Among the Mountain Men and New Gift people who had volunteered to join Aegor's southward campaign to expel the Ironborn, the injured, the families of those who died, as well as those who earned military merit or performed outstandingly in battle, basically all received residential rights ranging from one to ten years.
As soon as the residential area was completed, it was immediately allocated to these meritorious individuals according to priority.
Besides the goal of giving idle people something to do, this method can also, while filling the new residential area, ensure the quality and loyalty of the first batch of Crown City residents to the greatest extent possible. Furthermore, the widening gap in living standards caused by such merit-based allocation can increase the enthusiasm of The Gift's residents for labor and, without them realizing it, weaken and diminish the influence of the original Beyond the Wall tribal leaders.
People who work for Aegor and earn merit can move out of the dilapidated small villages scattered throughout The Gift and come to the bustling outer city of Crown Town, where it is easy to find job opportunities and enjoy conveniences and services. This tangible benefit is the strongest tool of governance. If the original tribal chiefs dare to obstruct, they will be violating The Gift's laws. If they do nothing, they will soon find that Aegor's influence over their own tribe members quickly surpasses their own.
The officials of Crown Town will naturally choose able-bodied and quick-witted young adults when hiring laborers, and no matter the world or time, such "pillars of the community" are bound to be those with higher influence within their families or society. In a situation of limited resources where not everyone's needs can be met, Aegor chose the most efficient approach, slightly tilting the distribution to first win over those most likely to "have ideas and implement them," ensuring his rule in The Gift is stable before planning further.
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While the residential area, with buildings stretching in continuous blocks, was quite spectacular, it was actually repetitive and monotonous, with little to see. Aegor nodded and signaled to proceed to the functional area right next to the inner city.
Schools, hospitals, commercial districts, plazas—though small like a sparrow, all necessary functions were present. The essential buildings were all here or under construction.
The so-called commercial district was naturally the expansion and relocation of the street outside the original Crown Town gate. The hospital, slightly larger than surrounding buildings and two stories high, was already built but lacked enough healers to move in. The school, however, had already begun operating early on.
Hundreds of children from the ruling families of various New Gift tribes, ranging from eight or nine to their teens, were divided into two classes, large and small, and had already begun receiving basic education, including reading and writing in the Common Tongue, arithmetic, and other subjects.
This was a rare sight. Not only in The Gift, but even in the Seven Kingdoms, it was uncommon to see such a large group of people gathered for teaching.
In this world of irregular seasons, cultural development must give way to "matters related to survival," and receiving education has always been a special privilege enjoyed by a few. Noble lords with castles have Maesters to educate their heirs, while knights or poorer families, and the vast majority of common folk, can only hope to be chosen to enter the Faith or the Citadel to have a chance to escape a lifetime of toil and gain access to more knowledge.
Persuading these completely uncivilized New Gift people that "sitting down to learn arithmetic and reading and writing is as important as working and exercising" was a troublesome matter. Fortunately, the Wildlings had handed over hostages as agreed when they passed the Wall. Jeor Mormont's original plan was to have these children serve as the Night's Watch's "Stewards" at Castle Black, supervising them and building relationships through daily interaction. Aegor, however, had other ideas.
Many of these children from higher-ranking Wildling families would one day hold influence within their tribes. Since the Night's Watch had to feed the hostages and also aimed to assimilate the New Gift people by influencing the next generation, why not combine the two tasks? He would directly use this batch of "hostages" as the first students of The Gift's school, integrating both winning hearts and indoctrination into daily teaching.
It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go the other way. Given time, when these hostages, having studied and understood the "civilized world," grown familiar with life in Crown City, and accepted the culture of the Seven Kingdoms along with Aegor's values and ideas, return to their tribes, even if they are not his staunch supporters, they will at least not stand in his way.
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By creating an environment where effort and loyalty lead to a better life, Aegor would gradually expand his influence among the lowest New Gift people. By indoctrinating the children of tribal leaders, he could also send his voice and ideas into the upper echelons of the former Beyond the Wall population.
With this two-pronged approach, given enough time, the people Beyond the Wall would be fully assimilated into Grey Area citizens.
The biggest difficulty in establishing the school was the lack of enough "teachers." It would take time for a newly fortified town to gain recognition from the Citadel and have Maesters dispatched, and one man alone could not bear the responsibility. Moreover, Aegor could not entrust such matters to outside forces with unclear backgrounds.
For now, the task was handled by the clerical staff of the Night's Watch Industry. King's Landing would soon send more personnel to alleviate the manpower shortage. Experience was secondary; they could teach and learn along the way until they developed a plan suited for this place.
The "students," with expressions of both curiosity and awe, watched as the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, the man they saw as the new "King Beyond the Wall," walked into the classroom with his attendants and stood at the front.
"Greetings, future masters of The Gift," Aegor said with a nod and a smile. "You did not mishear me. I call you the future masters of The Gift, and this is not a joke. But this status is not given at birth; it must be earned."
"Being sent to the Night's Watch as hostages means your parents are the leaders or de facto managers of their tribes, commanding a group of people. But they are not the masters of The Gift. No offense, but the truth is—your parents are just a group of surrendered soldiers who could not survive Beyond the Wall and exchanged their children for the right to pass through, with everything now in the hands of the Night's Watch." Aegor pointed toward the inner city of Crown Town. "There, the people inside are the true masters of The Gift. Where your tribes live, what they will eat next month, where they are allowed to go, what they can and cannot do, the next level of prices and wages, everything is decided by those within that high wall."
"And the quickest way to enter that high wall and become one of the true masters of The Gift is before you now. Study hard. Learn whatever your teachers teach and whatever I want you to know. Once you have mastered and understood it, once you understand how the world within the Wall operates, you will earn the qualification to enter that high wall."
Aegor looked around the room before continuing.
"Some of you may say, what is the use of learning this? I have siblings, my parents can have more children, and my tribe only recognizes the strongest warriors as leaders. By the time I return, my place will be gone."
He shrugged. "A reasonable thought. To that, I give you one promise—any child who studies hard and gains recognition from me or my teachers will never be left isolated. Behind you stands me, the one who holds all power in The Gift and can decide the fate of every New Gift person. I will never allow good children who have studied in my school, who use the same language and writing as me, and who share my ideals and goals, to be cast aside in their tribes. I do not care what customs your tribes had Beyond the Wall, but once you enter The Gift, you are New Gift people, and the rules are mine."
Aegor did not expect applause or cheers. He had come simply because it was on his way, and he had not prepared much. It was only on a whim that he decided to say these words, knowing that most of the "Wildling hostages" would be confused.
But if any of them were clever, lying in bed tonight and thinking it over, they would understand his meaning.
He had painted a grand picture for them, making it clear that he would intervene in the internal power structure of the New Gift tribes in the future, and that he would favor those hostages who studied the culture of the Seven Kingdoms and understood his ambitions.
Even a king could not directly install unrelated people as tribal chiefs, but if he supported the child of an original leader to take over, resistance would be much smaller.
This was a greater lure than any school reward system. Those who understood it would be tempted, and those who did not were not worth cultivating.
A small move in a busy schedule. It would take two or three years to see results, but as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Aegor was planning for the long term.
The so-called grand trend is pieced together step by step from such moves.
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Arya, who had caught up after the snow eased, was still unhappy about being left at Nightfort while he returned to Castle Black first. She remained silent when she saw the changes in Crown Town.
Walking out of the school and seeing her mood, Aegor smiled and patted her shoulder. "Look, there are many people your age here. Maybe you can make some friends."
"Who I make friends with is none of your business."
"Alright, alright, I will not interfere. But can you stop looking so glum? Did Ser Rodrik not agree to let you stay in Crown Town for a few days before going home?" Aegor smiled. "Come on, I will take you to see something interesting."
(To be continued.)
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